Minnesota Timberwolves' Alexey Shved, front right, of Russia, gets tied up by Toronto Raptors' Jonas Valanciunas, of Lithuania, as DeMar DeRozan, left, becomes entangled with Shved in a scramble for a loose ball in the first quarter of an NBA preseason basketball game on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Love, left, rears back as Toronto Raptors' Jonas Valanciunas, of Lithuania, defends in the first quarter of an NBA preseason basketball game on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman disagrees with a call in the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Minneapolis. The Raptors won 104-97. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

The Timberwolves ambled out of the starting blocks Saturday night, and after they lost 104-97 to the Toronto Raptors to drop to 2-2 in preseason play, including 0-2 at Target Center, coach Rick Adelman was nearly livid.

“Like I told ’em afterwards, we’ve played two home games here and we act like we’re just going through the motions,” he said.

Minnesota’s shooting?

“Awful,” Adelman said.

Minnesota’s defense?

“We just didn’t defend the team very well,” Adelman said.

Adelman said the only positive that came out of the game was that it gives the players a lot to look at on video.

“We just didn’t come with it,” he said. “I don’t understand.”

Toronto scored 11 of the first 15 points, and Adelman pointed out that this team does not have the talent to saunter out and turn it on later.

That’s exactly what he told his players.

Point guard Ricky Rubio was listening.

“We started the game in the wrong way,” he said. “We didn’t have energy. Part of that is my fault. I take the blame on that.”

Kevin Love was Minnesota’s only real offensive weapon, dropping in 28 points and adding 11 rebounds. But he was 2 for 8 from the field in the first eight minutes as the Raptors, who lost to the Wolves by 12 points Wednesday in Toronto, jumped in front early.

“Our first unit is just flat,” Love said.

It’s a game that doesn’t count, of course, and the Wolves played without one of their best shooters, injured guard Kevin Martin.

Without him, the Wolves shot 36.4 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range, staying close only because they made 35 of 50 free throws. Love hit 9 of 19 shots, Nikola Pekovic made 5 of 7 and Corey Brewer 4 of 10.

Everyone else?

They made 10 of 41 shots.

Obviously, the smooth-shooting Martin could have made a difference.

“If he makes one,” Adelman said, “it’s a step up.”

In addition, the Wolves matched their 16 assists with 16 turnovers.

“That isn’t going to cut it,” Adelman said.

With eight days until the Wolves play again, rectifying this kind of play looms large. But it’s up to the players to figure things out, according to Adelman. He said video, statistics — even an inspirational speech by Knute Rockne — won’t do it alone.

“Unless they react in the right way and understand that they’ve got a lot of work to do, it’s not going to hit home,” Adelman said. “I just told them: ‘What kind of a year do you want?’ ”

Rubio volunteered an answer later.

“We want to have a good season and we want to build something,” he said, “and today didn’t work.”

Over the next week, he added, the Wolves must regain what was missing on this night.

What was that?

“A lot of things,” Rubio said. “Energy. Focus in the game. Way too many things.”

Adelman noted that the Wolves are not the Miami Heat or the San Antonio Spurs, teams that can recover from rocky starts.

Love seconded that opinion.

“We don’t have the luxury to be a team that can fight from behind,” he said. “We’re talented enough and we can score, but if we’re going to win a big amount of basketball games, we need to have better starts.

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